The present invention relates to an editing apparatus, editing system and editing method and more particularly to a technique suitable for editing real-time material such as sport events, news report and so on quickly for broadcasting.
In a television broadcasting, often a video-recorded program is put on the air by time shift during live broadcasting of sports event or the like. This is such a case in which, for example, by video recording a sport game started at 1:00 in the afternoon, it is put on the air from 2:00 in the afternoon. In such a time-shift video-recorded program broadcasting, sometimes, a broadcasting time is set shorter than a recording time for a game or the like. This is such a case in which, for example, a program of live recording for about two hours is put on the air as a program for an hour and half. Of course, the recording time often extends in a case of live broadcasting of sport game because the game is prolonged.
In such a recorded program broadcasting, its recorded content needs to be edited corresponding to a predetermined broadcasting time. Particularly in a case when a game scheduled for about two hours from 1:00 in the afternoon will be broadcast from 2:00 in the afternoon, the game is recorded on one hand and a recorded video content is edited on the other hand and put on the air.
However, it is impossible to estimate when an important scene to be broadcast appears in a case of live broadcasting of sports or new events. For example, in a case of video recording on one hand and then editing the recorded scene immediately and putting it on the air on the other hand, what important scene will come after that cannot be expected. Therefore, in such a case, it is very difficult to edit so that important scenes for broadcasting can be appropriately supplied to viewers with scenes before and after that. Further, from restrictions of broadcasting time, there may occur a case in which an important scene which occurs at an end portion of a game cannot be put on the air.
Further, in an ordinary recorded program broadcasting in which a recorded program is edited after an event and then broadcast, a work for selecting portions to be broadcast by checking each scene to see whether or not it is important is needed. A method for simplifying such an editing work itself has been demanded today.
Accordingly, in view of such an aspect, the present invention intends to provide an editing apparatus preferable for editing of recorded video data for broadcasting and particularly realize an edition (i.e. a broadcast) most preferable corresponding to an importance degree of recorded content depending on a broadcasting time.
Therefore, according to the present invention, as an editing apparatus, there are provided a time information generating means for generating time information of a source video data supplied continuously from an outside at real time and a video data record and reproduction means capable of recording the source video data in a recording medium together with the time information and reproducing and outputting video data recorded in the recording medium corresponding to a reproduction command are provided. That is, as source for video image to be broadcast, the means for recording the time information and video data are provided.
Further, there are provided an importance degree input means capable of inputting an importance degree value indicating an importance degree of the content of the source video data arbitrarily, and and an importance degree value recording means for recording the importance degree inputted by the importance degree input means in the recording medium together with the time information generated from the time information generating means. Namely, for video data to be recorded, as an operator inputs an importance degree of content of each scene at the recording time, information about the importance degree of each scene is held. For example, with time information such as time code or the like, such information as indicating that a scene from time code A to time code B has a high importance degree is accumulated.
Further, changing means capable of changing values of the importance degree value and/or time information recorded in the importance degree value recording means is also provided. Because the input of the importance degree by the aforementioned importance degree input means is carried out by the operator at real time, it is difficult to always set the importance degree values at appropriate timing. For example, if an important scene suddenly occurs, it is preferable to raise the importance degree of a scene just before the same also. To cope with such a case, it is so constructed that the importance degree value and/or time information can be changed by the changing means.
Further, the control means for editing and broadcasting the video data recorded in the recording medium in the above manner according to the importance degree value selects a time portion to be reproduced from video data recorded in the recording medium based on an edit list information generated corresponding to the importance degree value and time information recorded in the importance degree value recording means and makes the video data record and reproduction means to reproduce and output broadcasting video data.
Further, the changing means can change a value of time information corresponding to each importance degree value depending on a change of the importance degree value on a time axis. That is, an optimum change of important value is automatically carried out. For example, in a portion in which the importance degree rises, time information corresponding to that rising importance degree is changed to a value of time earlier by a predetermined time portion. That is, for an important scene, the importance degree of a scene just before is also raised.
Further, the control means generates an edit list information corresponding to the importance degree value and time information recorded in the importance degree value recording means and calculates an accumulation time of video data portions to be selected according to the importance degree values of the edit list information.
Particularly after reproduction of broadcasting video data from the recording medium by the video data record reproduction means is started or after broadcasting is started, the accumulation time is calculated according to the accumulation time of video data already reproduced and outputted and the accumulation time of the video data which will be selected based on the importance degree value of the edit list information but has not been reproduced and outputted. As a result, a non-edited portion can be edited optimally corresponding to remaining broadcasting time.
A selection standard to select a broadcasting video data based on the importance degree value of the edit list information for the control means can be set to an arbitrary value for each of any interval of the video data. Thus, a flexible edition can be carried out depending on broadcast time and the importance degree. Further, an accumulation time of video data portion to be selected based on the selection standard value and an importance degree of edit list information of each interval can be calculated.
Depending on the setting of a target accumulation time and setting of an interval to be corrected, the control means selects only a required time portion as broadcasting video data for that portion to be corrected. Therefore, precise editing corresponding to a broadcasting time is achieved.